Star turn from Solberg opens title race

Petter Solberg came back from the brink of disaster to win the 12th round of the World Rally Championship, the Tour de Corse rally in Corsica at the weekend, throwing the series wide open with two rounds to go.

The Norwegian had crashed his Subaru heavily in the pre-rally shakedown on Thursday but the team worked through the night to rebuild the car in time for the Friday morning start.

Solberg repaid their efforts in style with a 36.6-second victory at the end of three days of competition in the tough tarmac event.

"Sitting in my hotel room on Thursday, this seemed such a long way away," Solberg said after the event. "I didn't really believe that I could actually take part in this rally, never mind win it. It's fantastic. Now I am right back in with the championship fight."

The only threat through the final day came from Ford's Francois Duval, but the Belgian had never competed on these stages and the task of overtaking Solberg was too much.

Indeed, he was caught and passed by Carlos Sainz (Citroen), who made an inspired choice of cut slick tyres for the final two stages, which were run on damp but drying roads.

That tyre choice and his second placing put the veteran Spaniard in the lead in the drivers' championship, taking over from Richard Burns, who had been leading the series.

Burns, who said both he and co-driver Robert Reid had been ill during the event, finished eighth, dropping to third in the championship three points behind Sainz and equal on points with Solberg, who has the edge in the number of victories scored.

There is little breathing space for the teams, which are heading to Spain this week for the Catalunya Rally, which will start on Friday, followed by the final round of the championship - the RAC Rally in the UK from November 6 to 9.